Grab Grabovski

Word from the insiders on twitter is that the Maple Leafs have waived Mikhail Grabovski for the purposes of buying him out today. This is a prelude to unrestricted free agency opening up this weekend (and possible re-signing Tyler Bozak). It’s a comically poor decision for Toronto who are one of the worst possession teams in the league, but it represents an opportunity for the Flames.

Gabovski had a down year last season in terms of output, but that was due to a combination ofr brutally difficult circumstances and really poor luck (36% ZS and toughest competition on the team, PDO of 98.8). Grabbo has historically been the best possession center on the Leafs and once his percentages regress to the mean his counting numbers will drastically improve as well. Style wise, he is fast, agile, creative with the puck and a quality passer.

Grabovski is 29 and will be paid an average of $5.5M for each of the next 4 seasons, so he’s not cheap and there’s some risk at the end of the deal. On the other hand, he’s a legit top-6 center capable of playing other top-6 opponents and is available for nothing. If he rebounds next season he improves the Flames to a non-trivial degree and could become a viable trade asset should Calgary look to flip him for a return a year or two down the road.

There isn’t a better option on the UFA market than Grabovski. The Flames are high on the waiver order priority…they could either grab him for free right now and accept his exisiting contract or try to court him as a UFA when (if?) he is bought out.

I don’t know if the Flames brass will seriously consider acquiring Grabovski, but they should.

100 Comments |

Flames have a boatload of cap space, and Feaster has made it public that he wants to target centreman as new additions during free agency. He now has the opportunity to grab a quality centre in Grabovski. Let`s hope he realizes it.

Doubt Grabo goes above his current salary, if he does make it to market. You’d have to think that the Leafs would have been shopping him already for a marginal draft pick, and no one would touch it. There would likely be bidding, but i doubt he gets another offer over 5per.

Raymond would be another useful top 9er. I like that we seem to be trying to get a little faster.

Somewhat related, I’d be interested to see if the flames would go after Kris Russel. When we traded Jbo, I’d assumed that Russel would be one of the pieces coming back (instead of Cundari).

yeah, he’s not a superstar, but he can skate, and play 12 minutes a night and do alright. I’d imagine he’s an upgrade on O’Brien or Smith. For the marginal cost of his new salary (which wouldn’t matter for a non-cap team) I’d take a flyer. But I also have a soft spot for players that can skate. Shean Donovan syndrome.

Eriksson has the ability to score 30-45-75. He’s a proven asset that would excel on Boston. A Seguin for Eriksson trade (with a spare part/pick from Dallas) seems fair to me. Dallas gets the C they missed out on with Lecavalier.

RE: Grabo, we can only hope that Feaster is DOING HIS FREAKING JOB today, and not out celebrating Independence Day.

Just heard from a friend that works with the Flames that the Flames have contacted Ilya Bryzgalov… Ilya said to have been excited to have talked to Jay and that a possible 2 year deal could be offered to him tomorrow.

It must be great to get bought out of your contract for crapping the bed, and then a week later having people elbow their way to the front of the line to sign you to a new one. I bet Lecavalier was upset for like 6 hours, then his agent called to say everyone and their dog was interested so he could cash in again.

At least Bryzgalov would be good for some entertaining post game comments, a decided departure from the stone-faced mute days of Kipper.

This off the intertubes, not sure if it is true but thought fans here might find it worth talking about:

“The Bruins attempted to deal Seguin to the Calgary Flames last weekend, but ultimately Flames ownership squashed any deals for the six-year, $5.75 million contract for Seguin while they go through a full rebuild with inexpensive, youthful players.”

The Stars gave up a package that would look something like Brodie, Baertschi and Gaudreau (in terms of quality of NHL player and prospects, etc) to match what Chiarelli got from Nill. So I can see Feaster being reluctant to empty his pockets for the trade to happen, but the way this is played out in the excerpt above seems odd to me.

I think the key for Boston was getting a top 4 winger back to replace Horton – Calgary doesn’t have any pieces like Eriksson that they could have incuded and would have had to include other prospects/picks instead.

Frankly Seguin scares the crap out of me, so in a way I’m glad the asking price was too high.

I think Grabo could be a fit here, my only concern that he appeared very soft during the playoffs. Granted, he literally seemed to be the only one who absorbed massive punishing hits from the Boston forwards. He was a -10 and only put up a measly 2 points in that 7 game series.

However, he would add to the depth of our center position and come in handy down the road. If he’s good at possession, he’ll be in Hartley’s good books. If he plays soft like Cervenka it will be tough sledding for him.